EP3346594B1 - Bidirectional chopper circuit - Google Patents
Bidirectional chopper circuit Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP3346594B1 EP3346594B1 EP16841155.1A EP16841155A EP3346594B1 EP 3346594 B1 EP3346594 B1 EP 3346594B1 EP 16841155 A EP16841155 A EP 16841155A EP 3346594 B1 EP3346594 B1 EP 3346594B1
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- Prior art keywords
- power converter
- voltage
- switching unit
- phase full
- inductor
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- 239000003990 capacitor Substances 0.000 claims description 47
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 claims description 45
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 33
- 238000004146 energy storage Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000009825 accumulation Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000001965 increasing effect Effects 0.000 description 6
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 5
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000001629 suppression Effects 0.000 description 4
- 230000010363 phase shift Effects 0.000 description 3
- HBBGRARXTFLTSG-UHFFFAOYSA-N Lithium ion Chemical compound [Li+] HBBGRARXTFLTSG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910001416 lithium ion Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000010606 normalization Methods 0.000 description 2
- HBMJWWWQQXIZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon carbide Chemical compound [Si+]#[C-] HBMJWWWQQXIZIP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910010271 silicon carbide Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 101100499229 Mus musculus Dhrsx gene Proteins 0.000 description 1
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M3/00—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output
- H02M3/02—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac
- H02M3/04—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters
- H02M3/10—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
- H02M3/145—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal
- H02M3/155—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M1/00—Details of apparatus for conversion
- H02M1/0095—Hybrid converter topologies, e.g. NPC mixed with flying capacitor, thyristor converter mixed with MMC or charge pump mixed with buck
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M1/00—Details of apparatus for conversion
- H02M1/08—Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters
- H02M1/088—Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters for the simultaneous control of series or parallel connected semiconductor devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M1/00—Details of apparatus for conversion
- H02M1/14—Arrangements for reducing ripples from dc input or output
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M7/00—Conversion of ac power input into dc power output; Conversion of dc power input into ac power output
- H02M7/42—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal
- H02M7/44—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal by static converters
- H02M7/48—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
- H02M7/00—Conversion of ac power input into dc power output; Conversion of dc power input into ac power output
- H02M7/42—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal
- H02M7/44—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal by static converters
- H02M7/48—Conversion of dc power input into ac power output without possibility of reversal by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
- H02M7/483—Converters with outputs that each can have more than two voltages levels
- H02M7/4835—Converters with outputs that each can have more than two voltages levels comprising two or more cells, each including a switchable capacitor, the capacitors having a nominal charge voltage which corresponds to a given fraction of the input voltage, and the capacitors being selectively connected in series to determine the instantaneous output voltage
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a bidirectional chopper circuit that bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first DC voltage across a pair of first external connection terminals and a second DC voltage across a pair of second external connection terminals.
- FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a common bidirectional chopper circuit.
- a bidirectional chopper circuit 101 includes a first switching unit (positive-side valve device) 121-1 and a second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 121-2, which are connected in series with each other so that conduction directions in an ON state are aligned and one of which is turned OFF when the other is turned ON, and an inductor 113 connected to a connecting point of the first switching unit 121-1 and the second switching unit 121-2.
- Each of the first switching unit 121-1 and the second switching unit 121-2 consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device.
- a high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 corresponds to a voltage of contact wires while a low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 corresponds to an operating voltage of an energy accumulation element.
- V dc1 1500 [V]
- V dc2 is set anywhere from 600 [V] to 700 [V].
- large-capacity bidirectional choppers with a converter capacity of 500 [kW] per single unit have been developed.
- a DC component of an inductor current i L is 500 [A] or higher.
- reducing the size and weight of inductors is an important issue, and it is particularly important when a bidirectional chopper circuit is installed on a moving object such as a railcar for a DC electric railroad. Since the weight and volume of an inductor are proportional to stored energy, reduction in size and weight can be achieved by reducing an inductance of the inductor. However, reducing the inductance causes a ripple current contained in the current flowing through the inductor to increase, and may cause deterioration in power quality and an unstable operation of a converter.
- the duty ratio d is determined in accordance with a high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 and a low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 . Therefore, in order to reduce the ripple current I Lripple contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 113 without increasing an inductance L of the inductor 113, the switching frequency (carrier frequency) f SM needs to be increased. For example, when a contact wire voltage is 1500 [V], an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV] is commonly employed. A carrier frequency of such an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) is set to 1 [kHz] or lower in order to reduce switching loss. Thus, it is difficult to reduce the ripple current by increasing the carrier frequency. Although a method using a multiphase and multiplex chopper and a method using a coupled inductor have been proposed as methods to reduce the ripple current when applying the same carrier frequency, it is difficult to reduce the size and weight of inductors with these methods.
- occurrence of a short-circuit fault in the second switching unit 121-2 may allow a short-circuit current to flow into the second switching unit 121-2 from the side of the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 on which an energy accumulation element is located.
- a possible measure is to provide a DC circuit breaker in series with the inductor 113 as described in non-patent literature 2 to electrically disconnect the energy accumulation element on the side of the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 and the bidirectional chopper 101.
- providing such DC circuit breaker may lead to increasing a cost of the battery energy storage system.
- an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost bidirectional chopper circuit including an inductor with a reduced size and weight in view of the aforementioned problem.
- an inductance of a bidirectional chopper circuit may be reduced in size and weight and a low-cost bidirectional chopper circuit can be achieved.
- a ripple component of a current flowing through the inductor may be reduced.
- reduction in size and weight of the inductor in the bidirectional chopper circuit may be achieved.
- Battery energy storage systems including a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit have required a countermeasure in which a DC circuit breaker is installed in the battery energy storage system to prevent a potential inflow of a short-circuit current when a short-circuit fault occurs in the switching unit (see non-patent literature 1 for instance).
- a side into which the short-circuit current flows for example, a side on which the energy accumulation element is located
- the main power converter may be electrically disconnected by turning OFF all semiconductor switching devices in respective single-phase full-bridge power converters, separate installation of the DC circuit breaker is not required, thereby achieving a significantly lower cost.
- FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a bidirectional chopper circuit according to an example of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a single-phase full-bridge power converter (bridge cell) in the bidirectional chopper circuit illustrated in FIG. 1 .
- the same reference numerals in different drawings denote components having the same functions.
- a bidirectional chopper circuit 1 bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first DC voltage V dc1 across a pair of first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a second DC voltage V dc2 across a pair of second external connection terminals T2 and G2. Either one of the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 is connected to a DC power supply while the other is connected to a load or another DC power supply.
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 when a DC power supply is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a load is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 operates as a step-down chopper.
- a voltage output by the DC power supply is the first DC voltage V dc1 and a voltage applied to the load is the second DC voltage V dc2 .
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 when a load is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a DC power supply is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 operates as a step-up chopper.
- a voltage applied to the load is the first DC voltage V dc1 and a voltage output by the DC power supply is the second DC voltage V dc2 .
- a DC power supply may be connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and another DC power supply may be connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2.
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 includes a main power converter 11, an auxiliary power converter 12, and an inductor 13.
- the main power converter 11 includes a first switching unit (positive-side valve device) 21-1 and a second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2.
- Each of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device.
- Examples of the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC (Silicon Carbide)-MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor), a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed.
- the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are connected in series with each other so that conduction directions of the semiconductor switching devices are aligned.
- the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are controlled so that either semiconductor switching device is turned ON while the other semiconductor switching device is turned OFF.
- the connecting point of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is denoted by P.
- a voltage appearing at both ends of the second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2 i.e., a potential difference between the ground terminal G1 and the connecting point P
- v M a voltage output by the main power converter 11
- Both terminals on a side opposite to a side on which the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are connected are assumed to be the first external connection terminals T1 and G1.
- the auxiliary power converter 12 is provided on a wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2.
- the auxiliary power converter 12 consists of one or a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells) 22-j cascaded with each other.
- j is a natural number from 1 to N; in other words, N is the cascade number of the single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells).
- the bridge cell 22-j is configured as a single-phase full-bridge circuit in which two sets of two serially connected semiconductor switches SW connected in parallel and a DC capacitor C are connected in parallel.
- the semiconductor switch SW consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device.
- the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC-MOSFET, a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed. Points in respective sets of two serially connected semiconductor switches SW at which the semiconductor switches are connected in series are assumed to be input/output terminals Q1 and Q2 for current to be discharged from the DC capacitor C or to be charged in the DC capacitor C.
- each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j by way of the input/output terminals Q1 and Q2 that are located on an AC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, another single-phase full-bridge power converter different from the single-phase full-bridge power converter or an inductor 13 to be described later is connected.
- the DC capacitor C is connected to a DC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j.
- the single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j illustrated in FIG. 1 is illustrated, to facilitate understanding, such that the DC capacitor C in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j illustrated in FIG. 2 is located outside the single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j.
- a voltage of the DC capacitor in each single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j is v Cj
- a voltage on the AC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j i.e., a voltage applied at both ends of the input/output terminals Q1 and Q2 is v j .
- the inductor 13 is connected in series with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the main power converter 11. It is assumed that a voltage applied to both ends of the inductor 13 is v L . It should be noted that, when a DC power supply is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and an RL load (inductive load) is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, an inductance component of the RL load may substitute for the inductor 13; in this case, the inductor 13 may be omitted.
- second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are provided.
- the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the inductor 13, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are provided on the same wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the main power converter 11.
- the inductor 13 is disposed between the main power converter 11 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are disposed on a side, of the auxiliary power converter 12, opposite to the side where the inductor 13 is connected with the auxiliary power converter 12 (i.e., a side, of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N, opposite to a side where the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-(N-1) is connected with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N); however, arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the inductor 13, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 may be freely designed.
- FIG. 3C are circuit diagrams illustrating examples of arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converters, the inductor, and the second external connection terminals.
- the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are represented by the DC voltage V dc2 to facilitate understanding.
- the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 is the voltage of the DC power supply or the load.
- the inductor 13 is disposed on the right side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram.
- the inductor 13 is disposed on the right side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram.
- the inductor 13 is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram.
- V dc2 i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2
- FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the control of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention.
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 includes, as its control system, a control unit 31 for the main power converter and a control unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter.
- the control unit 31 for the main power converter controls duty ratios of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the main power converter 11 so that a current i L flowing through the inductor 13 follows a predetermined command value i L *.
- a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal for controlling a switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is determined.
- the control unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter controls a power conversion operation of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j so that an AC voltage for canceling an AC voltage component of the voltage appearing at the connecting point P of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the main power converter 11 is output while a DC voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor C is held at a predetermined voltage.
- a voltage v M appearing at both ends of the second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2 (i.e., a potential difference between the ground terminal G1 and the connecting point P) is expressed as an equation 2.
- v M ⁇ V dc 1 S 1 : on , S 2 : off 0 S 1 : off , S 2 : on
- d represents a duty ratio (instantaneous value) of the first switching unit 21-1.
- the equation 3 holds when a temporal variation of the duty ratio d in a single carrier period is sufficiently small.
- the AC voltage component v Mac contained in the voltage v M appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 may be expressed as an equation 4.
- v Mac ⁇ 1 ⁇ d V dc 1 S 1 : on , S 2 : off ⁇ dV dc 1 S 1 : on , S 2 : on
- the AC voltage component v Mac contained in the voltage v M appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 is in a form of a square wave.
- the entire AC voltage component v Mac is applied to the inductor 13; however, in the example of the present invention, the power conversion of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12 is controlled by the control unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter so that the AC voltage component applied to the inductor 13 becomes zero.
- the auxiliary power converter 12 outputs an AC voltage that has the same magnitude as the AC voltage component v Mac output by the main power converter 11.
- the voltage v A output by the auxiliary power converter 12 actually contains a ripple voltage generated by a PWM-controlled switching operation of the semiconductor switching devices in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12 in addition to the AC voltage component v Aac expressed as the equation 5.
- the ripple voltage is applied to both ends of the inductor 13 and will be a factor to generate the ripple current.
- the effect of the ripple voltage may be minimized by applying a "phase-shift PWM control" for shifting an initial phase of the triangle-wave carrier by 180°/N when the switching operation of the semiconductor switching devices in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12 is performed by PWM control.
- a voltage variation range (voltage step) of the ripple voltage is V C .
- the frequency of the ripple voltage is 2Nf SA .
- the ripple current may be reduced by appropriately selecting the DC voltage component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the switching frequency (carrier frequency) f SM used in PWM control of the main power converter 11, and the switching frequency (carrier frequency) f SA used in PWM control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. Next, selection of these parameters will be described.
- the DC voltage component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j preferably satisfies an equation 10. [Math. 10] 1 ⁇ d V dc 1 N ⁇ V C dV dc 1 N ⁇ V C
- the duty ratio d is determined in accordance with a high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 and a low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 .
- V dc1 1500 [V]
- V dc2 600 [V]
- the duty ratio d is 0.4.
- the DC voltage component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be freely set as long as they satisfy the equation 10.
- the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j When the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is set to a large number, the DC component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be set to a small value in accordance with the equation 10. As a result, the ripple current may be reduced in accordance with the equation 8. It should be noted that, when the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is set to a large number, the number of the converters becomes large and the cost increases.
- the DC component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be selected, for example, in view of trade-off between reducing the ripple current and reducing the cost.
- the switching frequency f SM used in PWM control of the main power converter 11 is determined in accordance with switching characteristics of the semiconductor switching device to be used. For example, it is usually set to 1 [kHz] or lower in a case of an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV].
- f SM and f SA preferably satisfy an equation 11 since each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j needs to generate a square-wave voltage of the frequency f SM by PWM control. [Math. 11] f SM ⁇ f SA
- a rated voltage of the semiconductor switching device used for the auxiliary power converter 12 may be set to a value lower than the rated voltage of the semiconductor switching device used for the main power converter 11 by appropriately selecting the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j.
- the DC component V C of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is 500 [V] at a maximum from the equation 10.
- an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV] or a SiC-MOSFET rated at 1.2 [kV] for example.
- the output power P M of the main power converter 11 is equal to the output power of the entire bidirectional chopper circuit 1.
- FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the duty ratio and a power ratio.
- the duty ratio d is 0.5 or lower, the output power of the auxiliary power converter 12 is higher than the output power of the main power converter 11.
- the duty ratio d is 0.5 or higher, the output power of the auxiliary power converter 12 is lower than the output power of the main power converter 11. Therefore, in terms of reducing the converter power, the duty ratio is preferably 0.5 or higher.
- FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating control of the main power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention.
- the control of the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 is made up of control of the DC current contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 13, suppression control of the ripple current contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 13, and constant voltage control of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j.
- the control of the DC current contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 is performed by the control unit 31 for the main power converter.
- the suppression control of the ripple current contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 and the constant voltage control of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j are performed by the control unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter.
- the DC current control of the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 is achieved by controlling the duty ratios d of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the main power converter 11. More specifically, in a block B1, by applying PI (Proportional-Integral) control to a difference between the current i L flowing through the inductor 13, which is detected by a current detector (not illustrated), and the command value i L *, feedback control is performed to cause the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 to follow the command value i L *.
- PI Proportional-Integral
- a block B2 performs normalization with the high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 to determine the duty ratio d.
- a PWM signal for controlling the switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is determined.
- One of the feedforward terms, v B * which will be described in detail later, represents a voltage term (command value) output by the auxiliary power converter 12 and is used to achieve decoupling the control of the main power converter 11 and the control of the auxiliary power converter 12.
- a block BR for suppression control of the ripple current consists of blocks B3 and B4.
- the block B3 outputs the AC voltage v Aac given by the equation 5.
- the block changes polarity of v Aac according to a switching signal from the main power converter 11.
- the block B4 divides the AC voltage v Aac by the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j.
- the voltage v A output by the auxiliary power converter 12 ideally contains only an AC voltage component.
- the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 ideally contains only a DC current component.
- no DC power is formed by the voltage v A output by the auxiliary power converter 12 and the current i L flowing through the inductor 13.
- the DC component of the voltage of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j ideally does not vary.
- the block BC for controlling the DC capacitor voltage is executed to suppress this variation.
- the DC component v Cjdc contained in each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor can be calculated by applying a moving average filter or a low-pass filter to each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor detected by a voltage detector (not illustrated). Since the frequency of the AC voltage contained in each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor is equal to f CM , when a moving average filter is used, a filter frequency may be set to f CM .
- a voltage command value v Bj * for controlling the DC capacitor voltage is output.
- v Bj ⁇ i L " is positive, a positive active power flows into the DC capacitor and the DC component v Cjdc contained in each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor increases.
- v Bj ⁇ i L " is negative, a negative active power flows into the DC capacitor and the DC component v Cjdc contained in each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor decreases. Therefore, the block BC for controlling the DC capacitor voltage utilizes this characteristic to control the DC voltage of each DC capacitor.
- v B * is given to the control unit 31 for the main power converter as a feedforward term as illustrated in FIG. 6 .
- v j represents the AC voltage of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12.
- a switching ripple component (the principal frequency is f SA ) generated due to PWM control is contained in addition to the AC voltage component (the frequency is f SM ) expressed by the equation 18.
- f SA is sufficiently large in comparison with f SM , an effect of the switching ripple component is negligible; therefore, the effect of the switching ripple component is not considered in the following equation or later.
- the first term on the right side corresponds to an AC component.
- the AC component of v Cj is in a form of a triangle wave.
- a block B7 performs normalization of the AC voltage command value v j * with each voltage v Cj of the DC capacitor to determine a duty ratio d j .
- a PWM signal for controlling the switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12 is determined.
- the high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 was set to 1.5 [kV]
- the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 was set to 0.75 [kV]
- the duty ratio d was set to 0.5.
- P M P A
- the DC capacitor voltage V C was set to 350 [V] with reference to the equation 10.
- an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV] or a SiC-MOSFET rated at 1.2 [kV] may be employed as a semiconductor switching device in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the auxiliary power converter 12.
- an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV] or a SiC-MOSFET rated at 1.2 [kV] may be employed.
- the carrier frequency f SM of the main power converter 11 was set to 450 [Hz] assuming usage of an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV].
- the carrier frequency f SA of the auxiliary power converter 12 was set to 1800 [Hz] assuming usage of an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV].
- a dead time of the semiconductor switching device was set to zero assuming usage of an analog control system having zero control delay.
- FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating simulated waveforms when an active power is transmitted from the high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 to the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention.
- V dc1 high-voltage side DC voltage
- V dc2 low-voltage side DC voltage
- the duty ratio d is 0.5
- the voltage v M appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 is 0.75 [kV].
- the voltage v A output by the auxiliary power converter 12 is a square-wave voltage having an amplitude of 0.75 [kV].
- a switching ripple voltage generated due to phase-shift PWM control is superimposed; as a result, the voltage step is equal to V C .
- the voltage step of the voltage v L applied to both ends of the inductor 13 is equal to V C as described above and the frequency is 10.8 [kHz], which is an equivalent switching frequency.
- the ripple current contained in the current i L flowing through the inductor 13 is sufficiently small in comparison with the DC current component (667 [A]).
- DC voltage components of the voltages v c1 , v c2 , and v c3 of respective DC capacitors in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, 22-2, and 22-3 successfully follow the command value of 350 [V].
- the waveform of the AC component is in a form of a triangle wave as described above, and its frequency is equal to f SM .
- v Cjripple is 53 [V], which successfully agrees with the simulation result illustrated in FIG. 8 .
- FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention.
- FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and the waveform of the inductor current of a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit.
- FIG. 9B illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit not including an auxiliary power converter, and when the circuit constants in Table 1 are substituted into the equation 8, a ratio I w/ /I w/o of the magnitude of the ripple current when the auxiliary power converter 12 is employed to the one when the auxiliary power converter 12 is not employed is 0.01. Therefore, to achieve an effect of reducing a ripple current in the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit not including an auxiliary power converter, which is equivalent to that in the bidirectional chopper circuit including an auxiliary power converter according to the example of the present invention, the inductance L of the inductor 13 is preferably 100 times higher.
- the inductance L of the inductor 13 was increased from 0.5 [mH] to 50 [mH].
- the circuit constants other than the inductance L of the inductor 13 are similar to those in the bidirectional chopper circuit including an auxiliary power converter according to the example of the present invention in FIG. 9A . From comparison between FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B , the magnitudes of the ripple currents of both are equal. Thus, by introducing an auxiliary power converter as in the example of the present invention, the inductance L of the inductor 13 may be significantly reduced.
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 performs voltage conversion from the high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 to the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 or from the low-voltage side DC voltage V dc2 to the high-voltage side DC voltage V dc1 ; however, the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 may be, as a modification, an AC-AC converter circuit that directly converts AC voltage bi-directionally.
- FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an AC-AC converter circuit according to a modification of the example of the present invention.
- An AC-AC converter circuit 2 according to the modification of the example of the present invention bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first AC voltage vac1 across a pair of third external connection terminals T3 and G3 and a second AC voltage vac2 across a pair of fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4. Either one of the third external connection terminals T3 and G3 and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 is connected to an AC power supply while the other is connected to an AC load or another AC power supply.
- the AC-AC converter circuit 2 includes a main power converter 14, the auxiliary power converter 12, and the inductor 13.
- the main power converter 14 includes a third switching unit (positive-side valve device) 21-3 and a fourth switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-4.
- the third switching unit 21-3 may bi-directionally switch the conduction direction in an ON state while the fourth switching unit 21-4 is connected in series with the third switching unit 21-3 and may bi-directionally switch the conduction direction in an ON state.
- Each of the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 includes two units consisting of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device, and these two units are connected in series with each other so that the conduction directions in an ON state are mutually reverse.
- Examples of the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC-MOSFET, a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed.
- Both terminals on a side opposite to a side on which the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 are connected are assumed to be the third external connection terminals T3 and G3.
- the auxiliary power converter 12 is provided on a wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on a wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4.
- the auxiliary power converter 12 consists of one or a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells) 22-j cascaded with each other. Since the specific configuration of the auxiliary power converter 12 is similar to the case of the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 in the first example of the present invention, description thereof is omitted.
- the inductor 13 is connected in series with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 in the main power converter 14. Since the specific configuration of the inductor 13 is similar to the case of the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 in the first example of the present invention, description thereof is omitted.
- the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 are provided.
- the inductor 13 is disposed between the main power converter 14 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 are disposed on a side, of the auxiliary power converter 12, opposite to the side where the inductor 13 is connected with the auxiliary power converter 12 (i.e., a side, of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N, opposite to the side where the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-(N-1) is connected with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N); however, the arrangement order of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the inductor 13, and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 may be freely designed.
- control system of the AC-AC converter circuit 2 is also configured similarly to the control system of the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 that has been already described, description thereof is omitted.
- the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 according to the example of the present invention includes the main power converter 11, the auxiliary power converter 12, and the inductor 13.
- the AC-AC converter circuit 2 illustrated in FIG. 10 according to the modification of the example of the present invention includes the main power converter 14, the auxiliary power converter 12, and the inductor 13.
- both of the bidirectional chopper circuit 1 and the AC-AC converter circuit 2 include an auxiliary power converter 12 consisting of a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells).
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Description
- The present invention relates to a bidirectional chopper circuit that bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first DC voltage across a pair of first external connection terminals and a second DC voltage across a pair of second external connection terminals.
- In recent years, battery energy storage systems have been employed more and more in DC electric railroads (see non-patent
literature - In general, a voltage of contact wires for a DC electric railroad and an operating voltage of an energy accumulation element are different; therefore, voltage conversion (power conversion) is required using a bidirectional chopper circuit.
FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a common bidirectional chopper circuit. Abidirectional chopper circuit 101 includes a first switching unit (positive-side valve device) 121-1 and a second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 121-2, which are connected in series with each other so that conduction directions in an ON state are aligned and one of which is turned OFF when the other is turned ON, and aninductor 113 connected to a connecting point of the first switching unit 121-1 and the second switching unit 121-2. Each of the first switching unit 121-1 and the second switching unit 121-2 consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device. In a case of a DC electric railroad including a battery energy storage system, a high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 corresponds to a voltage of contact wires while a low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 corresponds to an operating voltage of an energy accumulation element. For example, when a standard voltage of contact wires is Vdc1 = 1500 [V], Vdc2 is set anywhere from 600 [V] to 700 [V]. In recent years, large-capacity bidirectional choppers with a converter capacity of 500 [kW] per single unit have been developed. In this case, a DC component of an inductor current iL is 500 [A] or higher. -
- Non-Patent literature 1: Yoshiaki Taguchi, Noriko Fukuda, Masamichi Ogasa, "Experimental results on SOC estimation of the lithium-ion battery boarded on a contact-wire and battery hybrid LRV (contact-wire-less LRV)", IEE-Japan Industry Applications Society Conference, 3-17, pp. III-183-III-186, 2008
- Non-Patent literature 2: Zhaofeng Li, Shunichiro Hoshina, Masayuki Nogi, Nobuhiko Satake, "Development of chopper devices for regenerative energy storage systems" (Kaisei chikuden shisutemuyou choppa souchi no kaihatsu), IEE-Japan Industry Applications Society Conference, 1-21, pp. I-123-I-126, 2014
- In bidirectional chopper circuits, reducing the size and weight of inductors is an important issue, and it is particularly important when a bidirectional chopper circuit is installed on a moving object such as a railcar for a DC electric railroad. Since the weight and volume of an inductor are proportional to stored energy, reduction in size and weight can be achieved by reducing an inductance of the inductor. However, reducing the inductance causes a ripple current contained in the current flowing through the inductor to increase, and may cause deterioration in power quality and an unstable operation of a converter.
-
- In the
equation 1, the duty ratio d is determined in accordance with a high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 and a low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2. Therefore, in order to reduce the ripple current ILripple contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 113 without increasing an inductance L of theinductor 113, the switching frequency (carrier frequency) fSM needs to be increased. For example, when a contact wire voltage is 1500 [V], an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV] is commonly employed. A carrier frequency of such an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) is set to 1 [kHz] or lower in order to reduce switching loss. Thus, it is difficult to reduce the ripple current by increasing the carrier frequency. Although a method using a multiphase and multiplex chopper and a method using a coupled inductor have been proposed as methods to reduce the ripple current when applying the same carrier frequency, it is difficult to reduce the size and weight of inductors with these methods. - In addition, in a case of a common battery energy storage system as illustrated in
FIG. 11 , occurrence of a short-circuit fault in the second switching unit 121-2 may allow a short-circuit current to flow into the second switching unit 121-2 from the side of the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 on which an energy accumulation element is located. For protecting the converter from such a short-circuit current, a possible measure is to provide a DC circuit breaker in series with theinductor 113 as described innon-patent literature 2 to electrically disconnect the energy accumulation element on the side of the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 and thebidirectional chopper 101. However, providing such DC circuit breaker may lead to increasing a cost of the battery energy storage system. - Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost bidirectional chopper circuit including an inductor with a reduced size and weight in view of the aforementioned problem.
- To achieve the aforementioned object, in the present invention, a bidirectional chopper circuit according to
claim 1. The preferred embodiments are defined in the appended dependent claims. - According to the present invention, an inductance of a bidirectional chopper circuit may be reduced in size and weight and a low-cost bidirectional chopper circuit can be achieved.
- According to the present invention, by providing an auxiliary power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit, a ripple component of a current flowing through the inductor may be reduced. As a result, reduction in size and weight of the inductor in the bidirectional chopper circuit may be achieved.
- Battery energy storage systems including a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit have required a countermeasure in which a DC circuit breaker is installed in the battery energy storage system to prevent a potential inflow of a short-circuit current when a short-circuit fault occurs in the switching unit (see non-patent
literature 1 for instance). In contrast to this, according to the present invention, since a side into which the short-circuit current flows (for example, a side on which the energy accumulation element is located) and the main power converter may be electrically disconnected by turning OFF all semiconductor switching devices in respective single-phase full-bridge power converters, separate installation of the DC circuit breaker is not required, thereby achieving a significantly lower cost. -
-
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a bidirectional chopper circuit according to an example of the present invention. -
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a single-phase full-bridge power converter (bridge cell) in the bidirectional chopper circuit illustrated inFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 3A is a circuit diagram (part 1) illustrating an example of arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converters, an inductor, and second external connection terminals. -
FIG. 3B is a circuit diagram (part 2) illustrating an example of arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converters, the inductor, and the second external connection terminals. -
FIG. 3C is a circuit diagram (part 3) illustrating an example of arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converters, the inductor, and the second external connection terminals. -
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating control of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a duty ratio and a power ratio. -
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating control of a main power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating simulated waveforms when an active power is transmitted from a high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 to a low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of a waveform of an inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and a waveform of an inductor current of a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and the waveform of the inductor current of a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit. -
FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an AC-AC converter circuit according to a modification of the example of the present invention. -
FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a common bidirectional chopper circuit. -
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a bidirectional chopper circuit according to an example of the present invention, andFIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a single-phase full-bridge power converter (bridge cell) in the bidirectional chopper circuit illustrated inFIG. 1 . Hereinafter, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote components having the same functions. - A
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 according to an example of the present invention bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first DC voltage Vdc1 across a pair of first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a second DC voltage Vdc2 across a pair of second external connection terminals T2 and G2. Either one of the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 is connected to a DC power supply while the other is connected to a load or another DC power supply. - For example, when a DC power supply is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a load is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 operates as a step-down chopper. In this case, a voltage output by the DC power supply is the first DC voltage Vdc1 and a voltage applied to the load is the second DC voltage Vdc2. - For example, when a load is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a DC power supply is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 operates as a step-up chopper. In this case, a voltage applied to the load is the first DC voltage Vdc1 and a voltage output by the DC power supply is the second DC voltage Vdc2. - Furthermore, for example, a DC power supply may be connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and another DC power supply may be connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2.
- The
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 includes amain power converter 11, anauxiliary power converter 12, and aninductor 13. - The
main power converter 11 includes a first switching unit (positive-side valve device) 21-1 and a second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2. Each of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device. Examples of the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC (Silicon Carbide)-MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor), a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed. The first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are connected in series with each other so that conduction directions of the semiconductor switching devices are aligned. The first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are controlled so that either semiconductor switching device is turned ON while the other semiconductor switching device is turned OFF. The connecting point of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is denoted by P. A voltage appearing at both ends of the second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2 (i.e., a potential difference between the ground terminal G1 and the connecting point P) is denoted by vM. For example, when a DC power supply is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and a load is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, a voltage output by themain power converter 11 is vM. - Both terminals on a side opposite to a side on which the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 are connected are assumed to be the first external connection terminals T1 and G1.
- The
auxiliary power converter 12 is provided on a wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2. Theauxiliary power converter 12 consists of one or a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells) 22-j cascaded with each other. Hereinafter, j is a natural number from 1 to N; in other words, N is the cascade number of the single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells). As illustrated inFIG. 2 , the bridge cell 22-j is configured as a single-phase full-bridge circuit in which two sets of two serially connected semiconductor switches SW connected in parallel and a DC capacitor C are connected in parallel. The semiconductor switch SW consists of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device. Examples of the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC-MOSFET, a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed. Points in respective sets of two serially connected semiconductor switches SW at which the semiconductor switches are connected in series are assumed to be input/output terminals Q1 and Q2 for current to be discharged from the DC capacitor C or to be charged in the DC capacitor C. In other words, by way of the input/output terminals Q1 and Q2 that are located on an AC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, another single-phase full-bridge power converter different from the single-phase full-bridge power converter or aninductor 13 to be described later is connected. The DC capacitor C is connected to a DC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. The single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j illustrated inFIG. 1 is illustrated, to facilitate understanding, such that the DC capacitor C in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j illustrated inFIG. 2 is located outside the single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j. It is assumed that a voltage of the DC capacitor in each single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j is vCj, a voltage on the AC input/output side of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 21-j (i.e., a voltage applied at both ends of the input/output terminals Q1 and Q2) is vj. - The
inductor 13 is connected in series with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11. It is assumed that a voltage applied to both ends of theinductor 13 is vL. It should be noted that, when a DC power supply is connected to the first external connection terminals T1 and G1 and an RL load (inductive load) is connected to the second external connection terminals T2 and G2, an inductance component of the RL load may substitute for theinductor 13; in this case, theinductor 13 may be omitted. - At any position on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in the
main power converter 11 and is provided with theinductor 13 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are provided. - Thus, the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the
inductor 13, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are provided on the same wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11. In the example illustrated in inFIG. 1 , theinductor 13 is disposed between themain power converter 11 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are disposed on a side, of theauxiliary power converter 12, opposite to the side where theinductor 13 is connected with the auxiliary power converter 12 (i.e., a side, of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N, opposite to a side where the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-(N-1) is connected with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N); however, arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, theinductor 13, and the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 may be freely designed.FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C are circuit diagrams illustrating examples of arrangement of the single-phase full-bridge power converters, the inductor, and the second external connection terminals. InFIG. 3A to FIG. 3C , the second external connection terminals T2 and G2 are represented by the DC voltage Vdc2 to facilitate understanding. As described above, the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 is the voltage of the DC power supply or the load. - In the example illustrated in
FIG. 3A , theinductor 13 is disposed on the right side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram. In the example illustrated inFIG. 3B , theinductor 13 is disposed on the right side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram. In the example illustrated inFIG. 3C , theinductor 13 is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N in the diagram, and the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 (i.e., the second external connection terminals T2 and G2) is disposed on the left side of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in the diagram. - Next, control of the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 according to an example of the present invention will be described.FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the control of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. Thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 includes, as its control system, acontrol unit 31 for the main power converter and acontrol unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter. - The
control unit 31 for the main power converter controls duty ratios of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11 so that a current iL flowing through theinductor 13 follows a predetermined command value iL*. On the basis of the duty ratios set by thecontrol unit 31 for the main power converter, a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal for controlling a switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is determined. - The
control unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter controls a power conversion operation of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j so that an AC voltage for canceling an AC voltage component of the voltage appearing at the connecting point P of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11 is output while a DC voltage vCj of the DC capacitor C is held at a predetermined voltage. - First, fundamental operations of the
main power converter 11 and thecontrol unit 31 for the main power converter will be described as follows. In description of the fundamental operations, the following assumptions are introduced. In other words, PWM control is applied to switching control of the semiconductor switching devices in the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11, and the switching frequency (carrier frequency) is assumed to be fSM. The semiconductor switching device is assumed to operate as an ideal switch. In respective equations that hold for the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2, to facilitate understanding, the first switching unit 21-1 is denoted by S1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is denoted by S2. -
- From the
equation 2, it is found that the voltage vM appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 is composed of a DC voltage component vMdc and an AC voltage component vMac. To resolve the voltage vM appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 into the DC voltage component vMdc and the AC voltage component vMac, an approximation expression as an equation 3 is applied.
[Math. 3] - In the equation 3, d represents a duty ratio (instantaneous value) of the first switching unit 21-1. The equation 3 holds when a temporal variation of the duty ratio d in a single carrier period is sufficiently small.
-
- As can be seen from the equation 4, the AC voltage component vMac contained in the voltage vM appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 is in a form of a square wave. When the
auxiliary power converter 12 is not used, the entire AC voltage component vMac is applied to theinductor 13; however, in the example of the present invention, the power conversion of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12 is controlled by thecontrol unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter so that the AC voltage component applied to theinductor 13 becomes zero. - Fundamental operations of the
auxiliary power converter 12 and thecontrol unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter will be described as follows. In description of the fundamental operations, the following assumptions are introduced. In other words, PWM control is applied to switching control of the semiconductor switching devices in each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12, and the switching frequency (carrier frequency) is assumed to be fSA. The semiconductor switching device is assumed to operate as an ideal switch. In addition, it is assumed that a DC voltage component of the DC capacitor voltage in each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is held at a constant value VC and an AC voltage component of each DC capacitor voltage is zero. - To cause the AC voltage component applied to the
inductor 13 to be zero, theauxiliary power converter 12 outputs an AC voltage that has the same magnitude as the AC voltage component vMac output by themain power converter 11. In other words, when the voltage output by theauxiliary power converter 12 is vA and the AC voltage component thereof is vAac, the AC voltage component vAac of the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 can be expressed as anequation 5 in the same form as the equation 4.
[Math. 5] - The AC voltage component vMac that is output by the
main power converter 11 and expressed as the equation 4 and the AC voltage component vAac that is output by theauxiliary power converter 12 and expressed as theequation 5 cancel each other; as a result, the AC voltage applied to theinductor 13 becomes zero. - It should be noted that the voltage vA output by the
auxiliary power converter 12 actually contains a ripple voltage generated by a PWM-controlled switching operation of the semiconductor switching devices in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12 in addition to the AC voltage component vAac expressed as theequation 5. The ripple voltage is applied to both ends of theinductor 13 and will be a factor to generate the ripple current. The effect of the ripple voltage may be minimized by applying a "phase-shift PWM control" for shifting an initial phase of the triangle-wave carrier by 180°/N when the switching operation of the semiconductor switching devices in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12 is performed by PWM control. When phase-shift PWM control is applied, a voltage variation range (voltage step) of the ripple voltage is VC. The frequency of the ripple voltage is 2NfSA. When it is assumed that the ripple voltage contained in the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 is vAripple and vAripple is a square-wave voltage that has the same length of positive voltage periods and negative voltage periods, an equation 6 is obtained.
[Math. 6] -
-
- From the equation 8, it is found that the ripple current may be reduced by appropriately selecting the DC voltage component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the switching frequency (carrier frequency) fSM used in PWM control of the
main power converter 11, and the switching frequency (carrier frequency) fSA used in PWM control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. Next, selection of these parameters will be described. - First, the DC voltage component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j will be described.
- In the
auxiliary power converter 12, a relation expressed as an equation 9 holds between the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 and the DC component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12.
[Math. 9] -
- In the equation 10, the duty ratio d is determined in accordance with a high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 and a low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2. For example, when the high-voltage side DC voltage is Vdc1 = 1500 [V] and the low-voltage side DC voltage is Vdc2 = 600 [V], the duty ratio d is 0.4. In contrast, the DC voltage component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be freely set as long as they satisfy the equation 10. When the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is set to a large number, the DC component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be set to a small value in accordance with the equation 10. As a result, the ripple current may be reduced in accordance with the equation 8. It should be noted that, when the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is set to a large number, the number of the converters becomes large and the cost increases. Therefore, the DC component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j may be selected, for example, in view of trade-off between reducing the ripple current and reducing the cost.
- Next, the switching frequency fSM used in PWM control of the
main power converter 11 and the switching frequency fSA used in PWM control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j will be described. - The switching frequency fSM used in PWM control of the
main power converter 11 is determined in accordance with switching characteristics of the semiconductor switching device to be used. For example, it is usually set to 1 [kHz] or lower in a case of an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV]. - In contrast, with respect to the switching frequency fSA used in PWM control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, fSM and fSA preferably satisfy an
equation 11 since each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j needs to generate a square-wave voltage of the frequency fSM by PWM control.
[Math. 11] - A rated voltage of the semiconductor switching device used for the
auxiliary power converter 12 may be set to a value lower than the rated voltage of the semiconductor switching device used for themain power converter 11 by appropriately selecting the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. When the high-voltage side DC voltage is Vdc1 = 1500 [V] and the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is N = 3, the DC component VC of the DC voltage of each DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j is 500 [V] at a maximum from the equation 10. In this case, it is assumed that an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV] or a SiC-MOSFET rated at 1.2 [kV], for example, is employed. These semiconductor switching devices are superior in switching characteristics to IGBTs rated at 3.3 [kV], easily satisfying theequation 11. - Next, selection of the duty ratio d will be described.
-
- The output power PM of the
main power converter 11 is equal to the output power of the entirebidirectional chopper circuit 1. In contrast, the output power PA of theauxiliary power converter 12 is a product of an effective value vArms of the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 and the current IL flowing through theinductor 13. From theequation 5, the effective value vArms of the output voltage of theauxiliary power converter 12 may be expressed as anequation 13.
[Math. 13] -
-
-
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the duty ratio and a power ratio. When the duty ratio d is 0.5 or lower, the output power of theauxiliary power converter 12 is higher than the output power of themain power converter 11. On the other hand, when the duty ratio d is 0.5 or higher, the output power of theauxiliary power converter 12 is lower than the output power of themain power converter 11. Therefore, in terms of reducing the converter power, the duty ratio is preferably 0.5 or higher. - Next, a specific control block diagram of the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 according to the example of the present invention will be described.FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating control of the main power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention whileFIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of the single-phase full-bridge power converter in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. - The control of the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 is made up of control of the DC current contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 13, suppression control of the ripple current contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 13, and constant voltage control of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. Among them, the control of the DC current contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 is performed by thecontrol unit 31 for the main power converter. The suppression control of the ripple current contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 and the constant voltage control of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j are performed by thecontrol unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter. - First, the control of the DC current contained in the current iL flowing through the
inductor 13 performed by thecontrol unit 31 for the main power converter will be described with reference toFIG. 6 . - The DC current control of the current iL flowing through the
inductor 13 is achieved by controlling the duty ratios d of the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 in themain power converter 11. More specifically, in a block B1, by applying PI (Proportional-Integral) control to a difference between the current iL flowing through theinductor 13, which is detected by a current detector (not illustrated), and the command value iL*, feedback control is performed to cause the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 to follow the command value iL*. Subsequently, after Vdc2 and vB* are added to the signal output from the block B1 as a feedforward term, a block B2 performs normalization with the high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 to determine the duty ratio d. On the basis of the duty ratio d, a PWM signal for controlling the switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the first switching unit 21-1 and the second switching unit 21-2 is determined. One of the feedforward terms, vB*, which will be described in detail later, represents a voltage term (command value) output by theauxiliary power converter 12 and is used to achieve decoupling the control of themain power converter 11 and the control of theauxiliary power converter 12. - Next, the suppression control of the ripple current contained in the current iL flowing through the
inductor 13 performed by thecontrol unit 32 for the single-phase full-bridge power converter and the constant voltage control of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j will be described with reference toFIG. 7 . - A block BR for suppression control of the ripple current consists of blocks B3 and B4. The block B3 outputs the AC voltage vAac given by the
equation 5. At the time of output, the block changes polarity of vAac according to a switching signal from themain power converter 11. The block B4 divides the AC voltage vAac by the cascade number N of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j. - The voltage vA output by the
auxiliary power converter 12 ideally contains only an AC voltage component. In contrast, the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 ideally contains only a DC current component. Thus, no DC power is formed by the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 and the current iL flowing through theinductor 13. In other words, the DC component of the voltage of the DC capacitor in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j ideally does not vary. However, since the DC component actually varies due to the influence of loss in theauxiliary power converter 12, the block BC for controlling the DC capacitor voltage is executed to suppress this variation. More specifically, by applying PI control to a difference between the DC component vCjdc contained in each voltage of the DC capacitor and the command value vC* in the block B5, feedback control is performed to cause the DC component vCjdc contained in each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor to follow the command value vC*. The DC component vCjdc contained in each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor can be calculated by applying a moving average filter or a low-pass filter to each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor detected by a voltage detector (not illustrated). Since the frequency of the AC voltage contained in each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor is equal to fCM, when a moving average filter is used, a filter frequency may be set to fCM. - From the block BC for controlling the DC capacitor voltage, a voltage command value vBj* for controlling the DC capacitor voltage is output. An actual voltage vBj (= vBj*) forms an active power with the inductor current iL. When "vBj×iL" is positive, a positive active power flows into the DC capacitor and the DC component vCjdc contained in each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor increases. When "vBj×iL" is negative, a negative active power flows into the DC capacitor and the DC component vCjdc contained in each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor decreases. Therefore, the block BC for controlling the DC capacitor voltage utilizes this characteristic to control the DC voltage of each DC capacitor. In this case, when the polarity of the current iL flowing through the
inductor 13 changes, the polarity of vBj to be output also changes, so that the polarity of vBj is changed according to the polarity of the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 in the block B6. For example, when vC*>vCjdc, "vBj×iL" needs to be positive; therefore, in the block B6, positive vBj is output when the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 is positive and negative vBj is output when the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 is negative. -
- Since the command value vB* for the voltage to be output by the
auxiliary power converter 12 is a DC voltage, interaction in the control with themain power converter 11 that similarly controls a DC voltage may be caused. To achieve decoupling of control, vB* is given to thecontrol unit 31 for the main power converter as a feedforward term as illustrated inFIG. 6 . By so doing, the voltage terms vB (= vB*) output by themain power converter 11 and theauxiliary power converter 12 mutually cancel each other, and the control of the DC capacitor voltage performed by theauxiliary power converter 12 will not affect the DC current control of the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 performed by themain power converter 11. - Each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor contains an AC voltage component vCjac in addition to a DC voltage component VCjdc. Since the AC voltage component vCjac is a factor that causes an overvoltage in the semiconductor switching device or saturation of the control system, the AC voltage component is preferably controlled appropriately. From
FIG. 7 , an AC voltage command value vj* of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12 is expressed as an equation 17.
[Math. 17] -
-
- In the equation 19, vj represents the AC voltage of each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the
auxiliary power converter 12. In vj, a switching ripple component (the principal frequency is fSA) generated due to PWM control is contained in addition to the AC voltage component (the frequency is fSM) expressed by the equation 18. When fSA is sufficiently large in comparison with fSM, an effect of the switching ripple component is negligible; therefore, the effect of the switching ripple component is not considered in the following equation or later. -
-
- In the equation 21, the first term on the right side corresponds to an AC component. From the
equation 5 and the equation 21, the AC component of vCj is in a form of a triangle wave. From theequation 5 and the equation 21, a variation range vCjripple of the AC component may be expressed as anequation 22.
[Math. 22] - In the
equation 22, Ton represents an ON time (= d/fSM) of the first switching unit 21-1 of themain power converter 11. From theequation 22, the variation range is inversely proportional to fSM. Therefore, by increasing the carrier frequency of themain power converter 11, a capacity C of the DC capacitor may be reduced. - A block B7 performs normalization of the AC voltage command value vj* with each voltage vCj of the DC capacitor to determine a duty ratio dj. On the basis of the duty ratio dj, a PWM signal for controlling the switching operation of each semiconductor switching device in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in the
auxiliary power converter 12 is determined. - Next, a simulation result of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to an example of the present invention will be described. In the simulation, "PSCAD/EMTDC" was used. Table 1 lists circuit constants used in the simulation.
-
Table. 1 Circuit parameters used in simulation Rated capacity PM, PA 500kW DC voltage 1 Vdc1 1.5kV DC voltage 2 Vdc2 0.75kV Duty ratio d 0.5 Rated inductor current I L 667A Inductance L 0.5mH Cascade number N 3 DC capacitor voltage VC 0.35kV Capacitance C 10mF Unit capacitance constant H 3.7ms Carrier frequency (main power converter) fSM 450Hz Carrier frequency (auxiliary power converter) fSA 1800Hz - The high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 was set to 1.5 [kV], the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 was set to 0.75 [kV], and the duty ratio d was set to 0.5. In this case, "PM = PA" is derived from
FIG. 5 . The DC capacitor voltage VC was set to 350 [V] with reference to the equation 10. In this case, as a semiconductor switching device in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j in theauxiliary power converter 12, an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV] or a SiC-MOSFET rated at 1.2 [kV] may be employed. A unit capacitance constant H is a value obtained by normalizing an entire electrostatic energy of the DC capacitor with the capacitance of the converter, and it may be expressed as an equation 23.
[Math. 23] - The carrier frequency fSM of the
main power converter 11 was set to 450 [Hz] assuming usage of an IGBT rated at 3.3 [kV]. The carrier frequency fSA of the auxiliary power converter 12 (each single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j) was set to 1800 [Hz] assuming usage of an IGBT rated at 1.2 [kV]. In the simulation, a dead time of the semiconductor switching device was set to zero assuming usage of an analog control system having zero control delay. -
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating simulated waveforms when an active power is transmitted from the high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 to the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 in the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention. InFIG. 8 , waveforms of the voltage (i.e., a potential difference between the ground terminal G1 and the connecting point P) vM appearing at both ends of the second switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-2, the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12, the voltage v1 output by the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1 in theauxiliary power converter 12, the voltage vL applied to both ends of theinductor 13, and the voltage vc1, vc2, and vc3 of respective DC capacitors in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, 22-2, and 22-3 in theauxiliary power converter 12. Since the duty ratio d is 0.5, it is derived from the equation 3 that the voltage vM appearing at both ends of the second switching unit 21-2 is 0.75 [kV]. In this case, it is found from theequation 5 that the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 is a square-wave voltage having an amplitude of 0.75 [kV]. On the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12, a switching ripple voltage generated due to phase-shift PWM control is superimposed; as a result, the voltage step is equal to VC. In this case, the frequency (2NfSA = 10.8 [kHz]) of the ripple voltage contained in the voltage vA output by theauxiliary power converter 12 is three times the frequency (2fSA = 3.6 [kHz]) of the ripple voltage contained in the voltage v1 output by the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1. - The voltage step of the voltage vL applied to both ends of the
inductor 13 is equal to VC as described above and the frequency is 10.8 [kHz], which is an equivalent switching frequency. As a result, the ripple current contained in the current iL flowing through theinductor 13 is sufficiently small in comparison with the DC current component (667 [A]). DC voltage components of the voltages vc1, vc2, and vc3 of respective DC capacitors in the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, 22-2, and 22-3 successfully follow the command value of 350 [V]. The waveform of the AC component is in a form of a triangle wave as described above, and its frequency is equal to fSM. When the circuit constants in Table 1 are substituted into theequation 22, vCjripple is 53 [V], which successfully agrees with the simulation result illustrated inFIG. 8 . -
FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention.FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating a simulated waveform for comparison of the waveform of the inductor current of the bidirectional chopper circuit according to the example of the present invention and the waveform of the inductor current of a conventional bidirectional chopper circuit, and illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit. In thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 including anauxiliary power converter 12 according to the example of the present invention, when the circuit constants in Table 1 are substituted into the equation 7, ILripple is 16 [A], and an error is generated from 13 [A] of the simulation result illustrated inFIG. 9A . The reason for this is that vAripple was assumed to be a square-wave voltage of 180-degree conduction as expressed in the equation 6. An actual conduction period of vAripple is 180 degrees or less as illustrated in inFIG. 8 . In this case, the ripple current is smaller than the value derived from the equation 7. In other words, the equation 7 expresses the maximum value of the ripple current. -
FIG. 9B illustrates the waveform of the inductor current of the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit not including an auxiliary power converter, and when the circuit constants in Table 1 are substituted into the equation 8, a ratio Iw//Iw/o of the magnitude of the ripple current when theauxiliary power converter 12 is employed to the one when theauxiliary power converter 12 is not employed is 0.01. Therefore, to achieve an effect of reducing a ripple current in the conventional bidirectional chopper circuit not including an auxiliary power converter, which is equivalent to that in the bidirectional chopper circuit including an auxiliary power converter according to the example of the present invention, the inductance L of theinductor 13 is preferably 100 times higher. In view of this, inFIG 9B , the inductance L of theinductor 13 was increased from 0.5 [mH] to 50 [mH]. The circuit constants other than the inductance L of theinductor 13 are similar to those in the bidirectional chopper circuit including an auxiliary power converter according to the example of the present invention inFIG. 9A . From comparison betweenFIG. 9A and FIG. 9B , the magnitudes of the ripple currents of both are equal. Thus, by introducing an auxiliary power converter as in the example of the present invention, the inductance L of theinductor 13 may be significantly reduced. - The
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 according to the aforementioned example of the present invention performs voltage conversion from the high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1 to the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 or from the low-voltage side DC voltage Vdc2 to the high-voltage side DC voltage Vdc1; however, thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 may be, as a modification, an AC-AC converter circuit that directly converts AC voltage bi-directionally. -
FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an AC-AC converter circuit according to a modification of the example of the present invention. An AC-AC converter circuit 2 according to the modification of the example of the present invention bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first AC voltage vac1 across a pair of third external connection terminals T3 and G3 and a second AC voltage vac2 across a pair of fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4. Either one of the third external connection terminals T3 and G3 and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 is connected to an AC power supply while the other is connected to an AC load or another AC power supply. In the illustrated example, a case in which an AC power supply is connected to the third external connection terminals T3 and G3 while anAC load 41 is connected to the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 is illustrated; in this case, a step-down operation is performed. In a case in which an AC load is connected to the third external connection terminals T3 and G3 while an AC power supply is connected to the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4, the AC-AC converter circuit 2 performs a step-up operation. - The AC-
AC converter circuit 2 includes amain power converter 14, theauxiliary power converter 12, and theinductor 13. - The
main power converter 14 includes a third switching unit (positive-side valve device) 21-3 and a fourth switching unit (negative-side valve device) 21-4. The third switching unit 21-3 may bi-directionally switch the conduction direction in an ON state while the fourth switching unit 21-4 is connected in series with the third switching unit 21-3 and may bi-directionally switch the conduction direction in an ON state. Each of the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 includes two units consisting of a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device, and these two units are connected in series with each other so that the conduction directions in an ON state are mutually reverse. Examples of the semiconductor switching device include an IGBT, a SiC-MOSFET, a thyristor, a GTO (Gate Turn-off thyristor), a transistor, etc.; however, the type of the semiconductor switching device itself does not limit the present invention and other types of semiconductor devices may be employed. - Both terminals on a side opposite to a side on which the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 are connected are assumed to be the third external connection terminals T3 and G3.
- The
auxiliary power converter 12 is provided on a wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on a wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4. Theauxiliary power converter 12 consists of one or a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells) 22-j cascaded with each other. Since the specific configuration of theauxiliary power converter 12 is similar to the case of thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 in the first example of the present invention, description thereof is omitted. - The
inductor 13 is connected in series with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 in themain power converter 14. Since the specific configuration of theinductor 13 is similar to the case of thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 in the first example of the present invention, description thereof is omitted. - At any position on the wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 in the
main power converter 14 and is provided with theinductor 13 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 are provided. - Thus, on the same wiring line that branches from the connecting point P on the wiring line connecting the third switching unit 21-3 and the fourth switching unit 21-4 in the
main power converter 14, the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, theinductor 13, and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 are provided. In the example illustrated in inFIG. 10 , theinductor 13 is disposed between themain power converter 14 and the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-1, and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 are disposed on a side, of theauxiliary power converter 12, opposite to the side where theinductor 13 is connected with the auxiliary power converter 12 (i.e., a side, of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N, opposite to the side where the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-(N-1) is connected with the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-N); however, the arrangement order of the single-phase full-bridge power converter 22-j, theinductor 13, and the fourth external connection terminals T4 and G4 may be freely designed. - Since the control system of the AC-
AC converter circuit 2 is also configured similarly to the control system of thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 that has been already described, description thereof is omitted. - As described above, the
bidirectional chopper circuit 1 illustrated inFIG. 1 according to the example of the present invention includes themain power converter 11, theauxiliary power converter 12, and theinductor 13. The AC-AC converter circuit 2 illustrated inFIG. 10 according to the modification of the example of the present invention includes themain power converter 14, theauxiliary power converter 12, and theinductor 13. In other words, both of thebidirectional chopper circuit 1 and the AC-AC converter circuit 2 include anauxiliary power converter 12 consisting of a plurality of single-phase full-bridge power converters (bridge cells). Thus, even if, for example, a short-circuit fault occurs in the switching unit in themain power converter 11 or themain power converter 14, separate installation of a DC circuit breaker that has been disposed as a measure for a short-circuit current is not necessary since a side into which the short-circuit current flows (for example, a side where an energy accumulation element is located) and themain power converter 11 or themain power converter 14 may be electrically disconnected by turning OFF all semiconductor switching devices in respective single-phase full-bridge power converters; therefore, a significantly lower cost may be achieved. -
- 1 bidirectional chopper circuit
- 2 AC-AC converter circuit
- 11, 14 main power converter
- 12 auxiliary power converter
- 13 inductor
- 21-1 first switching unit
- 21-2 second switching unit
- 21-3 third switching unit
- 21-4 fourth switching unit
- 22-1, 22-2, 22-j, 22-N single-phase full-bridge power converter
- 31 control unit for main power converter
- 32 control unit for single-phase full-bridge power converter
- P connecting point
- Q1, Q2 input/output terminal
- T1, G1 first external connection terminal
- T2, G2 second external connection terminal
- T3, G3 third external connection terminal
- T4, G4 fourth external connection terminal
Claims (5)
- A bidirectional chopper circuit (1) that bi-directionally performs voltage conversion between a first DC voltage across a pair of first external connection terminals (T1, G1) and a second DC voltage across a pair of second external connection terminals (T2, G2), comprising:a main power converter (11, 14) including a first switching unit (21-1) and a second switching unit (21-2), which are connected in series with each other so that conduction directions in an ON state are aligned and one of which is turned OFF when the other is turned ON, the main power converter (11, 14) having, as the first external connection terminals (T1, G1), both terminals on a side opposite to a side on which the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2) are connected; characterised in that said bidirectional chopper circuit further comprises:at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N) cascaded with each other provided on a wiring line that branches from a wiring line connecting the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2); andan inductor (13) connected in series with the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N) on the wiring line that branches from the wiring line connecting the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2),wherein, at any position on the wiring line that branches from the wiring line connecting the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2) are provided, with the inductor (13) and the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N), the pair of second external connection terminals (T2, G2)
- The bidirectional chopper circuit (1) according to claim 1, wherein on an AC input/output side of any of the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter, the inductor (13) or another single-phase full-bridge power converter different from the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N) is connected while on a DC input/output side, a DC capacitor is connected.
- The bidirectional chopper circuit (1) according to claim 2, comprising:a control unit (31) for the main power converter (11, 14) configured to control duty ratios of the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2) in the main power converter (11, 14) so that a current flowing through the inductor (13) follows a predetermined command value; anda control unit (32) for the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N) configured to control a power conversion operation of the at least one single-phase full-bridge power converter (22-1, 22-2, 22-N) so that an AC voltage for canceling an AC voltage component of a voltage appearing at a connecting point (P) of the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2) in the main power converter (11, 14) is output while a DC voltage of the DC capacitor is held at a predetermined voltage.
- The bidirectional chopper circuit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of the first switching unit (21-1) and the second switching unit (21-2) comprises a semiconductor switching device that conducts in one direction when it is ON and a feedback diode connected in antiparallel with the semiconductor switching device.
- The bidirectional chopper circuit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein either one of the pair of first external connection terminals (T1, G1) and the pair of second external connection terminals (T2, G2) is connected to a DC power supply while the other is connected to a load or another DC power supply.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
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JP2015172771 | 2015-09-02 | ||
PCT/JP2016/057005 WO2017038122A1 (en) | 2015-09-02 | 2016-03-07 | Bidirectional chopper circuit |
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EP3346594A1 EP3346594A1 (en) | 2018-07-11 |
EP3346594A4 EP3346594A4 (en) | 2019-04-17 |
EP3346594B1 true EP3346594B1 (en) | 2020-09-16 |
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EP16841155.1A Active EP3346594B1 (en) | 2015-09-02 | 2016-03-07 | Bidirectional chopper circuit |
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US (1) | US10498233B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP3346594B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP6731673B2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2017038122A1 (en) |
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JP6687812B2 (en) * | 2017-04-28 | 2020-04-28 | 東芝三菱電機産業システム株式会社 | Power converter |
JP6975005B2 (en) * | 2017-10-04 | 2021-12-01 | 株式会社日立製作所 | Power converters, their controls and methods, and power generation systems |
WO2020085172A1 (en) | 2018-10-23 | 2020-04-30 | 国立大学法人東京工業大学 | Chopper circuit |
Family Cites Families (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US5625545A (en) * | 1994-03-01 | 1997-04-29 | Halmar Robicon Group | Medium voltage PWM drive and method |
US7548441B2 (en) * | 2004-02-24 | 2009-06-16 | Vlt, Inc. | Universal AC adapter |
JP2006187086A (en) * | 2004-12-27 | 2006-07-13 | Nissan Motor Co Ltd | Dc/dc converter |
US7977927B2 (en) | 2007-08-08 | 2011-07-12 | Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc. | Step-up DC/DC voltage converter with improved transient current capability |
EP2416486B1 (en) * | 2009-03-30 | 2018-05-30 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Power conversion device |
JP5572838B2 (en) * | 2010-01-14 | 2014-08-20 | 株式会社MERSTech | Bidirectional power conversion circuit |
US20120319478A1 (en) * | 2011-06-20 | 2012-12-20 | Volterra Semiconductor Corporation | Dc to dc converter with ripple cancellation |
EP2748917B1 (en) * | 2011-08-24 | 2018-05-30 | ABB Schweiz AG | Bidirectional unisolated dc-dc converter based on cascaded cells |
JP6195274B2 (en) * | 2011-11-25 | 2017-09-13 | 国立大学法人東京工業大学 | Single-phase power converter, three-phase two-phase power converter and three-phase power converter |
NL2010191C2 (en) * | 2012-07-23 | 2014-01-27 | Univ Delft Tech | Electrical power converter. |
US9548651B2 (en) | 2013-02-22 | 2017-01-17 | Texas Instruments Incorporated | Advanced control circuit for switched-mode DC-DC converter |
JP6180825B2 (en) * | 2013-07-02 | 2017-08-16 | 株式会社日立製作所 | Power converter and electrical / mechanical energy conversion system |
WO2016029824A1 (en) * | 2014-08-25 | 2016-03-03 | 国家电网公司 | Direct current voltage conversion device and bridge arm control method therefor |
JP6662163B2 (en) * | 2016-04-14 | 2020-03-11 | 富士電機株式会社 | 3-level chopper device |
-
2016
- 2016-03-07 JP JP2017537563A patent/JP6731673B2/en active Active
- 2016-03-07 EP EP16841155.1A patent/EP3346594B1/en active Active
- 2016-03-07 WO PCT/JP2016/057005 patent/WO2017038122A1/en active Application Filing
- 2016-03-07 US US15/756,770 patent/US10498233B2/en active Active
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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US20180254699A1 (en) | 2018-09-06 |
EP3346594A1 (en) | 2018-07-11 |
WO2017038122A1 (en) | 2017-03-09 |
US10498233B2 (en) | 2019-12-03 |
JPWO2017038122A1 (en) | 2018-06-14 |
JP6731673B2 (en) | 2020-07-29 |
EP3346594A4 (en) | 2019-04-17 |
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